# When arrested why can what you say \*only\* be used against you but never to help you? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [July 24, 2020, 2:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-arrested-why-can-what-you-say-only-be-used-against-you-but-never-to-help-you/916174 "2020-07-24T02:23:29Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 4\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![RivkahChaya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rivkahchaya/32/8919_2.png) [@RivkahChaya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RivkahChaya)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2020, 1:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-arrested-why-can-what-you-say-only-be-used-against-you-but-never-to-help-you/916174/41 "2020-07-25T13:26:38Z")
I’ve got a cousin who is a state’s attorney. I asked him this once. He said (IIRC) it’s basically because the cops belong to the side that will be charging you, not building your defense. Things you say might be used by the defense, but the cops have no way of anticipating what the defense will do, and cannot promise that if you tell a story about your innocence, it will be used at all. The defense may decide the prosecution’s case is so weak that no evidence will be presented. Or the defense may decide on some other approach entirely. If you choose to talk, anticipating that what you say will eventually help your defense, _because the warning implied that_, then essentially, you have been lied to to procure your story. However, since the burden of proof is on the prosecution, and the prosecution must present a case, the cops can pretty safely promise that what you say will be used by the prosecution. Even if you are as innocent as a baby, you should say “I want a lawyer,” and then shut up. That’s advice from a prosecutor. ---
**Author:** ![Nars\_Glinley](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nars_glinley/32/8177_2.png) [@Nars\_Glinley](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nars_Glinley)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2020, 9:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-arrested-why-can-what-you-say-only-be-used-against-you-but-never-to-help-you/916174/42 "2020-07-25T21:10:58Z")
I don’t know if you’ve asked it before or not, but I have. > [@A little help with the hearsay rule please.](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-little-help-with-the-hearsay-rule-please/514345): > > In this popular web video of [Don’t talk to the police](http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-4097602514885833865#), the first reason that the professor gives (around 9:00) is “It can’t help.” The reasoning is that under the Federal Rules of Evidence, anything said to an officer that might help the defendant’s case would be considered hearsay according to 801(d)(2)(A). Quick googling show that this passage says: From [here.](http://www.law.cornell.edu/rules/fre/rules.htm#Rule801) Given that the section is exceptions to the hearsay rule, why would statements made to the police be inadmissable? Is the speaker… ---
**Author:** ![Whack-a-Mole](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whack-a-mole/32/141_2.png) [@Whack-a-Mole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whack-a-Mole)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2020, 12:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-arrested-why-can-what-you-say-only-be-used-against-you-but-never-to-help-you/916174/43 "2020-07-26T00:56:31Z")
The link is broken in what you quoted. ---
**Author:** ![Nars\_Glinley](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nars_glinley/32/8177_2.png) [@Nars\_Glinley](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nars_Glinley)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2020, 2:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-arrested-why-can-what-you-say-only-be-used-against-you-but-never-to-help-you/916174/44 "2020-07-26T02:26:08Z")
The link to the thread works, I think. The link within the thread was to the same video in the OP of this thread. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-arrested-why-can-what-you-say-only-be-used-against-you-but-never-to-help-you/916174.md?page=2)